Hello myArmoury Community

Now i don't know if this is the right place for this, and i apologize if its not but i have a question to you all regardless of your martial background.

What has been your greatest moment in combat ?

I only ask this because myself and a group of mates where recalling some of the battles we have been in and how we felt going in to the fight, how we felt in the middle of the fighting and what we where like after and i was curios to know what other experiences others have had, be it in WMA, SCA, Re-enactments (either with steel or with other) and what you might have done to prepare for that fight.

Thanks in advance

My greatest combat moment was a few years ago. I was performing with my reenactment group at our local Renaissance festival , here in Kansas city.

Before we went into the fighting we did pike drills and shared some history with the patrons :D Which ended up drawing a big crowd :D :eek:

I remember before doing my fight feeling nervous, but that quickly went away when I went out there and started swinging :D The adrenaline was so great that I had completely forgotten that there were 30 or so people watching us :cool: I was worried throughout the fight if my crutches would last, they often snap in half because of the amount of pressure I put on them :eek:

But I got through ok with no injuries :) So it was a good day

Here is a link to my fight, if anyone wanted to check it out ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9891vPGisw

The greatest such moment I've had was actually not at a reenactment but at a LARP I visited.
I was the leader of one of the sides, and everything went almost literally like the battle of Hastings, Including me getting shot in the eye near the end. It was epic...altough uhm plastic :cool: :cool: :P :P :P:

I got two, both from a full contact sparring session during out WMA groups latest weekend training camp.

One way in one-on-one combat using unequal weapons. I was using a single handed sword and a flat-topped kite shield. My opponent was using a spear. I feigned an attack with an open shield. My opponent tried to thrust to my upper chest. I arched backwards into a really awkward position. The spear missed me and went inches in front of my chest. I rammed down my shield edge on the haft of his spear, jamming it in the ground, and then planted my crossguard in his face (fencing mask) :)

Later on during that same contact sparring session we were doing four-on-four group fights with unequal weapons using counted blows (third blow was the killing blow). I planned a little tactic that worked perfectly. I was using a longsword and my teammates were all using sword and shield. I lined them up in a three man shield wall with me in the rear. I told them to run forward and crash in to the opposing team as hard as they could. At most they would get one or two blows in the process. In the confusion I would quickly run around the back and start whacking our opponents from the rear while they were too confused and dazed to fight back. It worked perfectly. All of my team survived and I managed to take out all four opponents. Win! :D

I've got two that I can think of. In our society it takes two shots to kill, the first shot causes the victim to lower his defences.

The first was in a shield wall two years ago. I was in the centre of a fairly loose shield wall and was duelling the guy in front of me, I managed to make a great shot over the top of his shield wounding him. I made my next shot to the person duelling my neighbour wounding him then turned back and finished off my opponent and then my neighbours. I managed to break the wall on my own.

My second was during our annual re-enactment of the Battle of Hastings in one of our free play morning fights. We decided to do maille against non armoured even though this left us (the maille warriors) out numbered by about a third again of our number. We chose a loose formation hoping to make quick attacks on our densely packed opponents. My flank (the right) was completely open to encirclement but we managed to hold them long enough for the left flank to crush their opposing flank while inflicting and receiving heavy casualties. It was the most fast paced and chaotic fighting I've ever been in and managed to kill 7-8 enemies. Luckily I was saved by the left flank which charged down the hill and finished the enemy.

Fights fit for the old Sagas themselves.

In an SCA tourney a number of years ago I came out against an opponent I didn't know. We both had one handed swords and I had a metal target and he had a small wooden shield. I through out a side of the head shot as a test, easily blocked. I started a top of the head shot and his shield moved so well into position that I pulled the shot and started to return to my base guard and so did he. Then I observed my sword in motion at his head. The was no conscious decision to make an attack. I hit him and we both burst out laughing. He was a perfect gentleman and we chatted happily until our next fights (it was a double elimination tourney) and I made it to the semi finals.
I'd never had "it" just happen before.

In combat? The moment I realized I was a better shot than my opponent.

There are no "great" moments in combat son, sports are another matter.

The greatest moment in combat was when it was over and I was still alive.

My most epic sport combat experience was on a LARP adventure with three others, advancing our way through 12 really tough opponents at once on a narrow path. Looking around and realising that our enemies were all down and we were all standing was a pretty neat feeling.

Reece Nelson wrote:

Here is a link to my fight, if anyone wanted to check it out ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9891vPGisw

Now that's a one-legged man who could probably win a butt-kicking contest!